Microsoft Office Apps Will Work With Dropbox But Not On Windows Phone

The latest news from Redmond giant has surely caught everyone by surprise. Microsoft has announced its new partnership with the leading cloud storage provider Dropbox. Microsoft already has its own cloud storage known as OneDrive. It’s tightly integrated into all of Microsoft’s apps on all platforms. Then why did Microsoft feel the need to go to Dropbox?

Answer is simple. Out of all cloud storage services out there, Dropbox is undoubtedly the most popular and most used service. Considering that both the companies have strong foothold in their respective fields, both of them will be benefited. But in the whole game, Microsoft’s own Windows Phone OS is missing. Microsoft will be updating its Office apps on Android and iOS to integrate Dropbox services. Dropbox, in exchange, will update its own app to let its users edit their files in MS Office. But none of them have announced new features for Windows Phone. So Windows Phone users just can’t work collaboratively on their files with users who don’t have OneDrive account. It looks like Microsoft is giving step-motherly treatment to its own OS which is going to give false impression.

While OneDrive have just started to building reputation and although it’s accessible from just about any platform, it’ll take some time before it goes mainstream. Most people are now registered with Dropbox and already have their files stored with Dropbox whereas to use Microsoft’s services they would need to create yet another account, something which many would dislike. But letting people use Microsoft’s key services with the convenience of Dropbox is a move worth appreciating. With upcoming updates Dropbox users can directly open their files in Office apps and can also invite others to work on the files simultaneously. By next year, Microsoft and Dropbox are planning to link up their respective web interfaces to provide cross integration of services.